Oral Roberts University is one of the classic March Madness Cinderella stories. But they are also an evil evangelical school, according to USA Today, another entry in the long list of awful media outlets trying to shame athletes during their biggest achievements.
Oral Roberts shocked the country by toppling No. 2 seed Ohio State in the first round of the NCAA basketball tournament. After then beating the No. 7 seed Florida Gators, Oral Roberts became just the second No. 15 seed to advance to the Sweet 16, a tremendous accomplishment that will cement those athletes in sports history.
But USA Today wants to ruin that, because that’s what it does. The USA Today sports offshoot For The Win declared that “Oral Roberts University isn’t the feel good March Madness story we need.” You see, Oral Roberts is a private, evangelical school, and its “deeply bigoted anti-LGBTQ+ polices [sic] can’t and shouldn’t be ignored.”
The author, Hemal Jhaveri, all but outright states that Oral Roberts should be tossed from the NCAA and barred from future tournaments, simply for being an evangelical school that forbids (all, not just homosexual) premarital sex and asserts that marriage is between a man and a woman. (Please, no one tell her about Catholic college sports staple Notre Dame University.)
This isn’t the first time that USA Today sought to destroy athletes who have reached incredible achievements. The outlet thought it was newsworthy that Villanova player Donte DiVincenzo had tweeted the n-word in 2011 (when he was 14) just as he was named the Most Outstanding Player in the Final Four of the 2018 tournament. The then-14-year-old DiVincenzo had been quoting a rap lyric.
The outlet also tore down Kyler Murray, right after his Heisman victory, dredging up a tweet from when he was 15 years old that included an anti-gay slur directed at friends. This obnoxious trend of “resurfacing” tweets to shame athletes publicly and pretending it’s journalism has included targets such as pitcher Josh Hader during his first MLB All-Star game and quarterback Josh Allen just before he was drafted into the NFL.
This pathetic excuse for journalism has plagued sports media for years, and USA Today has been a prime culprit. In looking for a good sports moment to destroy, now the outlet is offended that an evangelical school is, in fact, evangelical. There is no time to celebrate the achievements of these athletes when there is religion involved.
Oral Roberts will be suiting up against No. 3 seed Arkansas on Saturday, looking to make history as the lowest-seeded team ever to advance to the Elite Eight. Normal people will watch and likely back the underdog Golden Eagles, while an increasing number of media figures will stew in their hatred while waiting to destroy whatever college student helps lead his team to a title, just as USA Today tried to do with DiVincenzo.
